I never approved NNPC contracts - Osinbajo

"So I did grant two of them and those were presidential approvals, but they are specifically for financing joint ventures".

Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Friday, called on the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, to publicly apologize to Nigerians, over his various allegations against the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru.

He had initially said that he made the clarification in view of media enquiries that followed NNPC's claim that the contracts were indeed approved by Osinbajo.

According to the vice president, the law actually provides for those authorisations.

It also condemned the manner by which Kachikwu was allegedly sidelined despite being the chairman of the NNPC board in the awards of contracts and appointments, adding that such disdain was an insult on the people of the Niger Delta region from where the nation's oil and gas are produced.

"Action (is) necessary to deal with huge backlog of unpaid cash calls which Buhari administration inherited and also to incentivise much needed fresh investments in the oil and gas sector, " he twitted.

Professor Osinbajo said on Thursday, that the approvals were specifically for financing joint ventures through loans and not contracts.

In a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, Kachikwu listed some of the contracts as "crude term contracts valued at over $10 billion, DSDP contracts valued over $5 billion and AKK pipeline contract valued approximately $3bn".

Pasali described as a welcome development, reports in the media that Kachikwu and Baru had both agreed that an autonomous NNPC and other regulators like the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, would enable the progress of the oil and gas industry.

However, Baru, had reacted to the allegations by the minister in a statement signed by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu titled "Allegations of Lack of Adherence to Due Process in NNPC Contract Awards".

NNPC said Kachikwu was expressly consulted by the GMD and his recommendations were taken contrary to the assertion that he was never involved in the 2017/2018 contracting process for the crude oil.

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